Comes now Pareto University Dot Com...

Discussion in 'Accreditation Discussions (RA, DETC, state approva' started by Johann, Oct 31, 2017.

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  1. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Claims to operate in several African countries - more to come, including South America.

    Their accreditation statement: "Pareto University is accredited and connected with Governament and institutions of your Country..." Accredited by whom? What's the "connection" if any?

    Error-prone English on site - French much the same. This does not have the look of a serious professional effort. Might be because of poor web design. Looks like the latest tech from 1994.

    J.
     
  2. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 31, 2017
  3. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    The cited article says Pareto degrees are approved in Nigeria, among many other countries. IIRC, didn't Nigeria ban all distance degrees a while ago? Were this school's degrees among any later exempted from the ban?

    Here's Prof. Poggi's LinkedIn profile: https://it.linkedin.com/in/bruno-poggi-559b3b54/en

    And here's the Indiegogo page. https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/pareto-university-the-university-without-borders#/ For $50 donation you get an honorary diploma. For a few hundred, they name the school pub after you! Where is it?

    I'm dubious, here. No shortage of ambition, but sweeping accreditation statements etc. Again, what do you guys think?

    J.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 31, 2017
  4. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Yes. Nigeria did ban all distance degrees. Yes, some were later exempted. But not Pareto.

    Here is the list of Nigerian Universities allowed to run distance operations: https://www.campusportalng.com/education/nuc-approved-open-distance-learning-centres-nigeria/34257/#ixzz4JPdm8OOP You'll note Pareto is not on the list. No foreign institutions are included.
    Here is the list of approved Private Universities in Nigeria. https://www.campusportalng.com/nuc-list-approved-private-universities-nigeria-2014/ Once again, Pareto is not included. I'm thinking that contrary to its claims, Pareto U. may have zero degree-granting authority in Nigeria.

    Wouldn't surprise me if this were the case in other countries. Nigeria is not a country in which you can get a permit to "legally" issue degrees which have no standing, à la Swiss Cantons, Panama, BVI etc. You're either on the NUC list or not. And it appears Pareto, despite its sweeping accreditation claims, is not. I think Pareto and Prof. Poggi may be well-intentioned, but at this stage, a lot of the talk is just that --- talk.

    Anybody have anything to say here? Anyone?

    J.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 1, 2017
  5. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Looks like the school was named for economist Vilfredo Pareto, from whose work we derive all those ever-popular 80/20 rules. He died in 1923, at 75. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilfredo_Pareto
    What's the 80/20 rule for new schools, I wonder? Is there a special one for dot.com schools? :smile: G'night, folks!

    J.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 1, 2017
  6. Michigan68

    Michigan68 Active Member

    Nice posts. Thank you for hard work Johann.
     
  7. decimon

    decimon Well-Known Member


    I've thought it interesting that Pareto was mostly forgotten until this fellow, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_M._Juran, came across his work and expanded upon it. Now he's been mostly forgotten.
     
  8. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Good observation. Yes - mostly, I guess. The late Benoit Mandelbrot (mathematician - the fractal guy) referred to him quite a lot. Exceptions to the "forgotten" rule (80/20?) also among followers of the French economist, Thomas Piketty. That's understandable, as M. Piketty is an eminent authority on income distribution - as was Pareto.

    J.
     
  9. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    No!! :shock: ... Thanks, but I meant - does anybody have anything to say about Pareto University.

    No? One final observation. There seems to be a cluster of relatively new Italian-origin private distance universities; I question the exact standing of their degrees, compared to mainstream Italian schools. Giordano Bruno U., Niccolò Cusano U., and now Pareto come to mind. Niccolò Cusano has interesting partnerships with a Brazilian and a Vietnamese University. It also bought a soccer team - and sold it to buy another.

    Hmmm.

    J.
     
  10. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Well, "eminent" except that Piketty is wrong about a market economy leading to increasing inequality. But whatever, carry on.
     
  11. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Just a darn minute here. Steve. If he'd done nothing else, Thomas Piketty did one thing that makes me really like his style. In January 2015, he refused nomination to the French Legion of Honour, stating that he did not think it was the government's role to decide who is honourable. That, to me, says a lot.

    Some of M. Piketty's accomplishments:

    • At 22, received his PhD in the field of wealth distribution
    • Taught at M.I.T
    • Won 2002 prize for best young economist in France
    • Won Yrö Jahnsson award (economist under 45)
    • 2006 - first Head of Paris School of Economics
    • Joined London School of Economics as Centennial Professor

    It goes on and on... good bad & ugly - all here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Piketty

    Yeah, I think "eminent" might be an appropriate word here. I'll stick with it. Oh yes - best-selling book, too.

    And just because YOU say he's wrong - or I say it, for that matter - doesn't make him wrong. Doesn't make you wrong either, if I say so, but I still think, in this case, you are.

    J.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 1, 2017
  12. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    And yes - maybe "managed" economies, e.g. Marxist states, tend to concentrate wealth because of a corrupt power structure. Maybe all types of economies end up with uneven distributions, but NOBODY should ever have taken Marx's economic views seriously. What could a man who allowed at least one of his children to die of starvation possibly have to offer re: economics? He did what you just don't do - or allow to be done.

    OML! I'd just as soon learn economics from Kim Jong-Un!

    J.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 1, 2017
  13. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    I agree that speaks very well of him.

    I didn't say he was a dumbass. However -- and your disagreement is noted -- he's wrong about the theory for which he's best known, which IMHO puts a serious damper on things.

    As for awards, I mean, Stiglitz and Krugman each won a Nobel prize, but they're so consistently wrong that if either told me that the the sky is blue I'd look up expecting it to have changed to some other color. But eminence is in the eye of the beholder, and many people value those things, so fair enough.
     
  14. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Good point - and point taken, Steve. It is indeed in the eye of the beholder - I should remember that. Come to think of it, there was a Nobel Laureate (Myron Scholes - Economics) an alumnus of my hometown Uni. He went on to be a principal in the disastrous Long Term Capital Management, that collapsed and required a $3.6 Billion bailout under the supervision of the Federal Reserve. . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-Term_Capital_Management

    So - you're right. Only so many eminence points for academic achievement... You got me, fair and square. I still like Piketty for turning down the Légion d'Honneur, though!

    J.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 2, 2017
  15. decimon

    decimon Well-Known Member


    It should be mentioned that Malta is an independent nation.
     
  16. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    I know - really, I do - and I'm sorry if I muddled up by not making that distinction. I did kinda forget about the Maltese company registration. Apologies for that. The owner, Prof. Poggi, appears to reside and work in Italy, despite using the Maltese registration address in the Internet docs. I'm sure that's perfectly OK and mail sent to Malta would reach him. Pareto itself appears with Italian notes on LinkedIn here: https://ca.linkedin.com/company/pareto-university and all that helped me forget about Malta. Something else that helped is - Pareto is the third Uni of non-mainstream standing I've seen recently that's named after an Italian. The other two are domiciled in Italy, IIRC. Anyway, despite the Maltese company registration, Pareto claims its HQ is at a certain address in Conakry, Guinea, so... is it Italian, Maltese, African? Maybe all three.

    Another Italian page on Pareto (crowdfunding) below - and I realize that doesn't make Pareto Italian, either. All I can say is - along with the owner being Italian and working in Italy, the Tech org. and contact being Italian, and Vilfredo Pareto himself having been an Italian -- I guess I completely forgot about Malta. Le potenzialità del crowdfunding: il caso della Pareto University

    Just noticed - interesting hyperbole from Pareto site. "Pareto University is the only totally on line university in the world." Well, what about all the hundreds of others we've been discussing all these years? :shock:

    Again, my apologies. We good yet?

    J.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 3, 2017
  17. decimon

    decimon Well-Known Member


    I didn't know we were ungood and don't think you owe any apologies.
     
  18. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Thanks.

    J.
     

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